Saudi Arabia: telecom trends and opportunities

The article tackles the current telecom trends in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA thereafter) and developments in the macro and micro level that impact the present and future of the telecoms market.

The discussion first illustrates the social and cultural background of the country, as these are integral aspects of a nation’s telecom consumption behaviour. The overview of the telecoms sector is then discussed followed by the current opportunities for telecom players brought about by the government initiatives.

The new MVNOs entry is a significant milestone for Saudi Arabia as it not only opens doors for new competition but also new expertise brought in by foreign firms. The recent investments in the country’s broadband network, e.g. continuous deployment of FTTx by STC and upgrade of fibre-optic backbone network by Zain, are also expected to pave the way for new services especially for enterprises. Eventually, the e-government programme also holds a promising future for telecom service providers as it opens a whole slew of potential services that can be offered to both residential and business customers.